In Germany, recognized religious and philosophical communities may collect membership fees from their members as taxes, generally called church tax. This possibility is enshrined in Article 140 of the German Basic Law. The church tax is calculated and collected analogously to the income tax and amounts to 9% in most federal states, with the exception of Bavaria and Baden Württemberg, where the tax rate is 8%. For the collection of church taxes, the federal states receive a percentage of the revenue. This proportion varies from state to state, but is usually in the order of 3%.

Not all religious and ideological communities that use their membership fees as taxes could move in, too. At present, it is the Evangelical Church in Germany, the Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church, the Confederation of Free Religious Communities of Germany, the Unitarians and the Jewish faith communities that make use of this service. Other churches, such as the Evangelical Reformed Church in Hamburg, the Danish Maritime Church in Hamburg or the Mennonite congregation to Hamburg and Altona levy a church tax, but pull this themselves. This eliminates the taxes to the state. Other churches, including most Muslim movements, but also Christian churches such as the Pentecostal churches, the Evangelical Methodist churches or the Salvation Army renounce entirely on the collection of taxes and finance themselves through voluntary membership fees or other means.

The collection of church taxes by the state is in Germany, as well as in other countries, not without controversy, since church and state are separated in Germany. This separation, like the introduction of church taxes, is enshrined in the Basic Law. So there is a contradiction that can not be resolved easily. Some Christian churches also criticize the collection of membership fees in the form of taxes. They fear that they will be seen as a state levy and not as a contribution to religion. The church tax also promotes the church bureaucracy and prefers the large, established churches.